•••ORDERS HIM TO REFUND BENEFITS TOTALING N600 MILLION, N97m PENSION IN SEVEN DAYS
The Rivers State House of Assembly has passed a motion delisting Mr. Celestine Omehia as a former governor of the state.
The member representing Obio-Akpor Constituency 1, Amaewhule Martin Chike presented the motion to the house presided over by the Speaker, Ikuinyi-Owaji Ibani on Thursday.
The motion dated October 6, 2022, was titled, “motion to rescind the Rivers State House of Assembly resolution on the recognition of Sir Celestine Omehia as a former Governor of Rivers State and the restoration of all Benefits and Entitlement due to him”.
The lawmaker submitted that the verdict of the Supreme Court in the case of Amaechi v INEC declared Amaechi as the duly elected Governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for the 2007 general election.
He stated that the apex court referred to Omehia as a pretender to the office having not been nominated as a candidate of any Party let alone winner in the election.
Chike recalled a resolution was passed in favour of the recognition of Omehia as former governor and for the restoration of all privileges and entitlements accruing to former governors of the state on June 30, 2015.
Chike recalled that the resolution made the state government through an instrument published in the official gazette of the Rivers State of Nigeria No. 5, volume 52 of March 2016 signed by Governor Nyesom Wike recognised Omehia as a former governor with all privileges and entitlements.
According to him, Omehia received financial benefits and entitlements from the government comprising N600m benefits and N96.5m monthly pension as at September, 2022.
Chike said: “The continued recognition of Sir Celestine Omehia as a former Governor of Rivers State and the continued granting of privileges and entitlements accruing to all former governors of Rivers State to him is not in tandem with the highlighted pronouncement of the Supreme Court and the provision of the 1999 Constitution”.
The lawmaker urged the House to invalidate the the 2015 resolution of 2015 and called Governor Wike to derecognise Omehia as a former governor.
He moved that House should call on Wike to stop forthwith all privileges, benefits and entitlements of former governors being enjoyed by Omehia.
He also urged the House to direct Omehia strip Omehia of the title “His Excellency”, and the suffix, “Grand Service Star of Rivers State (GSSRS)” used only by governors and former governors of the state.
He further proposed that Omehia be directed to refund all monies paid to him by the state government as benefits and entitlements, comprising N600m benefits and N96.5m monthly pensions to the treasury of the state government within seven days from the date of the resolution.
In his ruling in favour of the motion, the Speaker directed that the resolution m be passed to the governor for further action.
